10-12 june 2016 - tilford bach society · alessandro marcello: oboe concerto in d minor op.1...

10-12 June 2016

3

64th Festival Programme

All Saints Church, Tilford

Friday 10 June 8-00pm

JS Bach: The Art of Fugue BWV1080

London Handel Players: Adrian Butterfield, Leader --------------------------

Saturday 11 June 1-00pm

JS Bach: Solo Violin Partitas No 1 & 2 Adrian Butterfield, violin

7-30pm

Bach Cantatas and Baroque Concertos JS Bach: Cantata 9 - Es ist das Heil uns kommen her

JS Bach: Cantata 132 - Bereitet die Wege, bereitet die Bahn!

Carl Friedrich Abel: Flute Concerto in G major

Leonardo Leo: Cello Concerto No.4 in A major

Alessandro Marcello: Oboe Concerto in D minor

Rowan Pierce, soprano, Amy Lyddon, alto

Joel Williams, tenor, Daniel D’Souza, bass

Flavia Hirte (flute), Carina Drury (cello), Jan Hutek (oboe)

Ensemble from the Royal College of Music

Directed from the violin by Adrian Butterfield --------------------------

Sunday 14 June 7-00 pm

JS Bach: Mass in B Minor BWV232

Julia Doyle, Renata Pokupic, Charles Daniels, Stephan Loges

Pegasus Choir

London Handel Orchestra: Adrian Butterfield, Conductor

4

Tilford Bach Society

Tilford Bach Festival is held annually at All Saints' Church, Tilford,

near Farnham, Surrey and specialises in performances of music by

JS Bach and his contemporaries on period instruments. Denys Dar-

low established the Tilford Bach Society in 1952 and later also

founded the London Handel Festival, becoming a well-known con-

ductor and interpreter of 17th- and 18th-century music.

Tilford Bach Society also organises high quality professional cham-

ber music concerts in Farnham from September to April with a wide

repertoire.

Our Music Director is Adrian Butterfield, who is also Associate Musi-

cal Director of the London Handel Festival and directs ensembles

such as the London Handel Orchestra, London Handel Players and

the Revolutionary Drawing Room. He is also Professor of Baroque

Violin at the Royal College of Music.

Through Adrian we are able to attract internationally acclaimed so-

loists and musicians to perform at the festival.

We are increasingly using the Internet and email.

Please ensure that you join our email list.

You can subscribe via our webpage,

using the form on the left hand side, part way down

Contact

Sue Sagun, Secretary

1 Adams Drive, Fleet, Hants GU51 3DZ

[email protected] 0845 519 8184

www.tilbach.org.uk

5

Tilford Bach Committee

Tilford Bach Society is run by a committee of up to twelve mem-

bers. The current members and officers are:

Adrian Butterfield Music Director (non-voting)

John Horrocks (Chairman and joint administration)

Peter Hopkins (Vice-Chairman)

Sue Sagun (Secretary and joint administration)

Jill Denbigh (Joint administration)

Richard Punshon

Rev Heather Humphrey (non-voting)

Interval Drinks Wine and fruit juice are available before the concerts and during the

interval.

All drinks are charged as follows:

Wine: £2-50 Bottle of wine: £10-00

Champagne: £5-00 Bottle of Champagne:£25-00

Juice: 50p

Drinks can be paid for in advance and

this helps to reduce queues

All Saints Church, Tilford All Saints Church, Tilford, was built in 1867 with the further addition

of the south aisle some 40 years later. The Parish Rooms were

added a few years ago.

Local Supporters & Sponsor Members Warmest thanks to our sponsors:

CAVATINA Trust

Countess of Munster Trust

Darwin Escapes

HSH Dr Donatus Prinz von Hohenzollern

Greyfriars Vineyard

Bury Court Opera

Strutt & Parker

Tilford Woods Lodge Retreat

Our 8 anonymous sponsor members

6

Friday, 12 June, 8-00 pm

London Handel Players

Adrian Butterfield, violin

Oliver Webber, violin Rachel Byrt, viola

Katherine Sharman, cello Robert Howarth, harpsichord

Contrapunctus I - strings Contrapunctus II - harpsichord solo Contrapunctus III - strings

Contrapunctus IV - harpsichord solo

Canon alla Ottava - harpsichord solo

Contrapunctus V - strings Contrapunctus VI - strings + continuo Contrapunctus VII - strings and harpsichord

Interval

Canon alla Decima Contrapunto alla Terza - harpsichord solo

Contrapunctus VIII - violin, viola, cello Contrapunctus IX - strings Contrapunctus X - harpsichord solo Contrapunctus XI - strings

Canon alla Duodecima in Contrapunto alla quinta - harpsichord solo

Contrapunctus XII - strings rectus; harpsichord inversus Contrapunctus XIII - harpsichord rectus; violin, viola, cello inversus Contrapunctus XIV - violin and cello

Contrapunctus XVIII - strings

The Art of Fugue is one of those works in which Bach set out to demonstrate the range of possibilities of one particular form or style. It is a collection of fugues and canons which are used to illustrate a number of contrapuntal techniques. Outwardly this would seem to suggest a rather dry and austere experience for the listener and yet the composer produces something imbued with extraordinary power, concentration and beauty.

As it has come down to us it appears to be unfinished and the intended order

of the movements is unclear. It was once thought to have been the last piece

he wrote but it seems that it reached its final form in about 1742.

The fugue theme appears in recognisable forms in almost all of the move-ments both in its original form and in various guises in inversion, diminution

and augmentation and other variants. It is also not clear which instrument Bach had in mind. The score was published with each voice on a separate staff and most movements are written for four voices. Yet it was not unusual for solo keyboard music of this type written by his predecessors for the parts

to be written out in this manner. Musicians have performed the Art of Fugue in a number of different instrumentations and we will be arranging it for

string quartet and harpsichord.

7

Saturday, 13 June, 1-00pm

Bach Solo Violin Partitas

Adrian Butterfield, violin

JS Bach – Partita No.1 for solo violin in B minor BWV1002

Allemanda; Double; Corrente; Double Presto; Sarabande;

Double; Tempo di Borea; Double

JS Bach - Partita No.2 for solo violin in D minor BWV1004

Allemanda; Corrente; Sarabanda; Giga; Ciaccona

Tickets £10 cash on door only, not available in advance

Light lunch with wine available afterwards.

Donations to cost of lunch respectfully requested.

Suggested amount £5 with wine or £3 with juice.

Don't miss the chance to hear the Goldbergs for strings again!

Saturday 18 June 2016: 7-30pm

St Peter's Church, Liss, GU33 6JY

Goldberg Ensemble

JS Bach: Goldberg Variations for String Trio

(Fundraising concert for St Peter's Church)

FREE ENTRY, RETIRING COLLECTION

Leipzig Town Hall

8

Saturday, 13 June, 7-30pm

Bach Cantatas and Baroque Concertos

Adrian Butterfield, violin/director Rowan Pierce, soprano

Amy Lyddon, alto Joel Williams, tenor

Daniel D'Souza, bass Flavia Hirte, flute Jan Hutek, oboe

Hailey Willington, violin Joanna Patrick, viola

Carina Drury, cello Lucy Keller, double bass

Nat Mander, organ

---------------------------------------

Carl Friedrich Abel

Flute Concerto in G major Allegro; Adagio; Presto

Alessandro Marcello

Oboe Concerto in D minor Op.1 Andante e spiccato; Adagio; Presto

JS Bach

Cantata BWV132:Bereitet die Wege, bereitet die Bahn ———

Interval ———

Leonardo Leo Cello Concerto No.4 in A major L.50

Andante piacevole; Allegro; Larghetto e gustoso; Allegro

JS Bach Cantata Cantata BWV9: Es ist das Heil uns kommen her

9

Programme Notes

Karl Friedrich Abel: Flute Concerto in G major

Karl Friedrich Abel was the last viola da gamba virtuoso of the 18th Cen-tury, who is well known for founding the first subscription concerts in Lon-don together with Johann Christian Bach, the youngest of the Bach sons. Both composers were taught by father Bach at the “Thomasschule zu Leip-

zig” and later were to meet and directly influence the young Mozart. This

puts them in an interesting musical period, which is somewhat overshad-owed by what was before and what came after. Nevertheless, Abel has left an impressive collection of beautiful works for various instruments and en-sembles, of which the flute concerto in G major is an excellent example. The set of six concertos for flute was never published during his lifetime

and the exact date of composition is also unclear. It is estimated that he composed them around the time he moved to London in 1758. One thing is certain: At the beginning of his appointment at the Dresden court orches-tra, Abel would have performed with Pierre-Gabriel Buffardin, a renowned

French flautist. Their time there overlapped by 6 years and Buffardin had already inspired Johann Sebastian Bach many years earlier to compose some of the most beautiful flute repertoire.

Alessandro Marcello: Oboe Concerto in D minor Op.1

Alessandro Marcello's (1673-1747), pseudonym Eterio Stinfalico) Concerto Op. 1 for oboe, strings and basso continuo has survived in a few different versions, both printed and manuscript. A complete set of parts was in-

cluded in an anthology entitled 12 concerti a 5 containing music by various composers and published in around 1717 by Jeanne Rogers in Amsterdam,

possibly without the composer’s authorisation. Before the discovery of this edition the concerto was attributed to Antonio Vivaldi and to Alessandro's younger and more famous brother Benedetto. The popularity of this Venetian oboe concerto is also a result of a transcrip-tion by JS Bach, known as a Concerto No. 3 BWV 974 for solo harpsichord.

This version, from 1713-14, was presumably based on an earlier manu-

script. Bach's elaborately embellished 2nd movement constitutes a great example of Baroque Adagio ornamentation. The Concerto is certainly Marcello's best-known composition and one of the most popular and fre-quently performed oboe concertos in the repertory.

Johann Sebastian Bach: Cantata BWV132

BWV132, Bereitet die Wege, bereitet die Bahn (‘Prepare the way, prepare

the path’) is an Advent cantata and is one of Bach’s early works, written in Weimar in 1715. The opening aria is a paraphrase of the words of Isaiah

10

Chapter 40, ‘Prepare ye the way of the Lord’, and is notable for its joyfully lilting dotted rhythms and melismatic writing for the solo soprano on the word ‘Bahn’ as the way of the Lord is depicted as wandering here and

there. The second aria for the bass refers to the question of the Jews to John the Baptist, ‘Who art thou?’, the repetitive and angular nature of the continuo line and the chromatic music attached to the references to Satan and ‘false, hypocritical Christian’ supplying an element almost of menace at times. The third and final aria for alto is a meditation on Baptism, the elaborate violin solo depicting the flowing water. © Adrian Butterfield 2016

Leonardo Leo: Cello Concerto No.4 in A major L.50

Leonardo Leo (1694-1744) was considered one of the leading Neapolitan composers of his day. His most successful works were his sacred and operatic compositions, including a number of comic operas. His six concerti for the cello were written in 1738 and 1739 for his patron, the Duke of Maddaloni, who was an amateur cellist. They are some of the earliest

examples of solo cello concerto repertoire. While the three movement

concerto structure had already been well established at this time, Leo writes these concerti in the four movement church concerto (or Sonata da Chiesa) pattern of slow-fast-slow-fast. The A major concerto is a very lyrical work and Leo shows an appreciation of the cello’s expressive quality, particularly in the third movement’s siciliana style melody, whilst the faster second and fourth movements have moments of sparkling virtuosity.

Johann Sebastian Bach: Cantata BWV 9

BWV9, Es its das Heil uns kommen her, was written in the 1730s. However, it is written in the style of the 1724-25 Jahrgang cantatas all of which were based on the texts of hymns. Bach was absent from Leipzig on July 16th 1724 for the Sixth Sunday after Trinity so he wrote this some years later to complete that cycle. The themes of the text are God’s law and the belief in

‘justification by faith’. The first movement presents the chorale hymn in long notes in the soprano whilst the other vocal parts have quicker, imitative music of their own;

these chorale statements are interspersed between concerto-like music for the oboe and flute accompanied by strings. All three recitatives are sung by the bass perhaps as a reflection of the traditional depiction of God at that

time by that voice. The anguished text of the tenor aria is depicted through the tortured lines of both the singer and the obligato violin. The duet for soprano and alto could hardly be more contrasted with this. The flute and oboe begin the movement with beautiful lyrical lines that weave around each other and the voices follow their example. The listener is barely aware of the complexity of Bach’s musical construction for both pairs of duettists

follow each other in canon in a subtle depiction of ‘the strength of our faith’. © Adrian Butterfield 2016

11

Future TBS Concerts Please check website in case anything is changed



Goldberg Ensemble


(Fund raising concert for St Peter's Church)

------------------------------------

Saturday 8 October 2016: 7-30pm

St Andrews Parish Church, Farnham, GU9 7PW

Dante String Quartet

Programme to include Beethoven String Quartet 132

-------------------------------------------------------------



Emma Abbate (piano) & Tippett String Quartet

Dvorak Piano Quintet Op81, Schumann Piano Quintet Op44 -------------------------------------------------------------

Saturday 26 November 2016: 7-30pm

Farnham United Reformed Church

Eisenach Ensemble

Baroque evening

-------------------------------------------------------------

Saturday 10 December 2016: 3-00pm & 6-30pm

Tilford Church GU10 2DD

Carol Concerts

-------------------------------------------------------------

Friday 27 January 2017: 7-30pm

Farnham Methodist Church, GU9 7RN

Natalia Lomeiko (violin) and Yuri Zhislin (viola)

-------------------------------------------------------------

Friday 24 February 2017: 7-30pm

Farnham Methodist Church, GU9 7RN

Students from the Royal College of Music

-------------------------------------------------------------

Saturday 1 April 2017: 7-30pm

St Thomas on the Bourne, Farnham, GU9 8HA

Bartosz Woroch (violin) Caroline Palmer (piano)

Mozart, Brahms and Schubert Violin Sonatas

www.tilbach.org.uk

12

1. Arie S Bereitet die Wege, bereitet die Bahn! Bereitet die Wege Und machet die Stege

Im Glauben und Leben Dem Höchsten ganz eben, Messias kömmt an!

2. Rezitativ T

Willst du dich Gottes Kind und Christi Bruder nennen, So müssen Herz und Mund den

Heiland frei bekennen. Ja, Mensch, dein ganzes Leben Muß von dem Glauben Zeugnis geben! Soll Christi Wort und Lehre Auch durch dein Blut versiegelt sein, So gib dich willig drein!

Denn dieses ist der Christen Kron und

Ehre. Indes, mein Herz, bereite Noch heute dem Herrn die Glaubensbahn, Und räume weg die Hügel und die Höhen,

Die ihm entgegen stehen! Wälz ab die schweren Sündensteine,

Nimm deinen Heiland an, Daß er mit dir im Glauben sich vereine!

3. Arie B Wer bist du? Frage dein Gewissen, Da wirst du sonder Heuchelei, Ob du, o Mensch, falsch oder treu,

Dein rechtes Urteil hören müssen.

Wer bist du? Frage das Gesetze, Das wird dir sagen, wer du bist, Ein Kind des Zorns in Satans Netze, Ein falsch und heuchlerischer Christ.

4. Rezitativ A Ich will, mein Gott, dir frei heraus bekennen,

Ich habe dich bisher nicht recht

bekannt.

1. Aria Soprano Prepare the paths, prepare the road! Prepare the paths, and make the flagstones

in faith and life completely level for the Highest, Messiah approaches!

2. Recitative Tenor

If your wish to be called God's child and Christ's brother, your heart and mouth must freely

acknowledge Him. Yes, human, your entire life must give witness of your faith! Should Christ's word and teaching also be sealed through your blood, then give yourself willingly to it!

For this is the Christian's crown and

honor. Meanwhile, my heart, prepare even today the road of faith for the Lord, and sweep away the hills and the heights,

which stand in His way! Roll away the heavy boulders of sin,

take your Savior to yourself, so that He may unite Himself to you in faith!

3. Aria Bass Who are you? Ask your conscience, from which, without hypocrisy, whether you, o human, are false or

true,

you must hear the just pronouncement. Who are you? Ask the law, it will tell you, who you are, a child of wrath in Satan's trap, a false and hypocritical Christian.

4. Recitative Alto I will, my God, freely and openly acknowledge You,

Until now I have not rightly perceived

You.

Cantata 132: Bereitet die Wege, bereitet die Bahn

13

Although mouth and lips called You

Lord and Father,

yet my heart was turned away from

You.

I have denied You with my life!

How can You give me good

testimony?

When, Jesus, through Your bath of

spirit and water

You purified me from my sins,

indeed I promised You firm loyalty

forever;

ah! but alas! The covenant of baptism

is broken.

I regret my infidelity!

Ah, God, have mercy on me,

ah, help, so that with unchanged

loyalty

I might continually renew the bond of

grace in faith!

5. Aria Alto

Christ's members, ah, consider,

what the Savior has bestowed on you

through the pure bath of baptism!

Through the spring of blood and

water

your garments will become bright,

which are stained from sin.

Christ gave as new garments

crimson robes, white silk,

these are the trappings of the

Christian.

6. Chorus

Kill us through your goodness,

wake us through your grace!

Sicken the old being,

so that the new may live

even here on this earth,

having his mind, all desires,

and thoughts for You.

Ob Mund und Lippen gleich dich Herrn

und Vater nennen,

Hat sich mein Herz doch von dir

abgewandt.

Ich habe dich verleugnet mit dem

Leben!

Wie kannst du mir ein guts Zeugnis

geben?

Als, Jesu, mich dein Geist und

Wasserbad

Gereiniget von meiner Missetat,

Hab ich dir zwar stets feste Treu

versprochen;

Ach! Aber ach! Der Taufbund ist

gebrochen.

Die Untreu reuet mich!

Ach Gott, erbarme dich,

Ach hilf, daß ich mit unverwandter

Treue

Den Gnadenbund im Glauben stets

erneue!

5. Arie A

Christi Glieder, ach bedenket,

Was der Heiland euch geschenket

Durch der Taufe reines Bad!

Bei der Blut- und Wasserquelle

Werden eure Kleider helle,

Die befleckt von Missetat.

Christus gab zum neuen Kleide

Roten purpur, weiße Seide,

Diese sind der Christen Staat.

6. Chorus

Ertöt uns durch deine Güte,

Erweck uns durch deine Gnad!

Den alten Menschen kränke,

Daß der neu' leben mag

Wohl hie auf dieser Erden,

Den Sinn und all Begehrden

Und G'danken hab'n zu dir.

("Herr Christ, der einig Gotts Sohn,"

verse 5)

14

Cantata 9: Es ist das Heil uns kommen her

1 Chorus Es ist das Heil uns kommen her Von Gnad und lauter Güte. Die Werk, die helfen nimmermehr,

Sie mögen nicht behüten. Der Glaub sieht Jesum Christum an, Der hat g'nug für uns all getan, Er ist der Mittler worden.

1 Chorus Salvation has come to us from grace and sheer kindness. Works never help,

they cannot protect us. Faith looks towards Jesus Christ who has done enough for all of us. He has become our mediator.

2 Recitativo B Gott gab uns ein Gesetz, doch waren wir zu schwach, Dass wir es hätten halten können.

Wir gingen nur den Sünden nach, Kein Mensch war fromm zu nennen; Der Geist blieb an dem Fleische kleben

Und wagte nicht zu widerstreben. Wir sollten in Gesetze gehn Und dort als wie in einem Spiegel

sehn, Wie unsere Natur unartig sei; Und dennoch blieben wir dabei. Aus eigner Kraft wo niemand fähig, Der Sünden Unart zu verlassen, Er möcht auch alle Kraft

zusammenfassen.

2 Recitative [Bass] God gave us a law, but we were too weak to be able to keep it.

we followed only sin, nobody could be called devout. The spirit clung to the flesh And did not dare to strive against it.

We should have gone along with the law and seen there as in a mirror

how bad our nature is. And yet we remained in this condition by his own strength no one was able to abandon the badness of sin, even if he tried with all his strength

to do so.

3 Aria T Wir waren schon zu tief gesunken, Der Abgrund schluckt uns völlig ein, Die Tiefe drohte schon den Tod,

Und dennoch konnt in solcher Not Uns keine Hand behilflich sein.

3 Aria [Tenor] We were sunk too deep, the abyss had swallowed us completely,

the deep already threatened us with death and yet in such distress

no one could give us a helping hand.

4 Recitativo B Doch musste das Gesetz erfüllet werden; Deswegen kam das Heil der Erden,

Des Höchsten Sohn, der hat es selbst erfüllt Und seines Vaters Zorn gestillt.

Durch sein unschuldig Sterben Ließ er uns Hilf erwerben.

4 Recitative [Bass] But the law had to be fulfilled; for this reason salvation came to the earth,

the son of God most high himself fulfilled the law And pacified his father's anger.

Through his innocent death He enabled us to acquire help.

15

Wer nun demselben traut, Wer auf sein Leiden baut, Der gehet nicht verloren. Der Himmel ist für den erkoren,

Der wahren Glauben mit sich bringt Und fest um Jesu Arme schlingt.

Those who trust in him, those who build on his suffering, Will not be lost. Heaven is destined for those

who bring true faith with them And clasp Jesus firmly in their arms.

5 Aria (Duetto) S A Herr, du siehst statt guter Werke

Auf des Herzens Glaubensstärke, Nur den Glauben nimmst du an.

Nur der Glaube macht gerecht, Alles andre scheint zu schlecht, Als dass es uns helfen kann.

5 Aria (Duet) [Soprano, Alto] Lord, instead of good works you look

at the strength of faith in our hearts,

You only take account of faith. only faith justifies us, everything else appears too imperfect to be able to help us.

6 Recitativo B

Wenn wir die Sünd aus dem Gesetz erkennen, So schlägt es das Gewissen nieder;

Doch ist das unser Trost zu nennen, Dass wir im Evangelio Gleich wieder froh Und freudig werden: Dies stärket unsern Glauben wieder. Drauf hoffen wir der Zeit,

Die Gottes Gütigkeit

Uns zugesaget hat, Doch aber auch aus weisem Rat Die Stunde uns verschwiegen. Jedoch, wir lassen uns begnügen, Er weiß es, wenn es nötig ist, Und brauchet keine List

An uns; wir dürfen auf ihn bauen Und ihm allein vertrauen.

6 Recitative [Bass]

When we recognize sin through the law then conscience strikes us down;

but this may also be called our consolation for in the Gospel we again become happy and joyful: this strengthens our faith again.

For this reason we hope for the time

that God's goodness has promised us, but has also with prudent counsel kept hidden from us the hour. However, we are content to accept this

he knows well when it is necessary and practices no deceit

upon us; we may build on him And in him alone place our trust.

7 Chorale [S, A, T, B] Ob sichs anließ, als wollt er nicht, Laß dich es nicht erschrecken; Denn wo er ist am besten mit,

Da will ers nicht entdecken. Sein Wort lass dir gewisser sein, Und ob dein Herz spräch lauter Nein,

So lass doch dir nicht grauen. Translation: Francis Browne

7 Chorale Although it seems that he is unwilling, do not be dismayed,

for when he is most with us, then he does not want to reveal that fact. Regard his word as certain for you,

and even if the flesh can only say no, you should not be appalled.

16

Sunday, 14 June, 7-00pm

JS Bach Mass in B Minor

BWV 232

Julia Doyle, soprano

Renata Pokupic, alto

Charles Daniels, tenor Stephan Loges, bass

Pegasus Choir

London Handel Orchestra

Adrian Butterfield, Conductor

1st Violins Alison Bury (leader) Kathryn Parry Sijie Chen

2nd Violins

Diane Moore Laura Cochrane Oakki Lau Violas

Jan Schlapp Malgosia Ziemkiewicz Cellos

Katherine Sharman Melanie Woodcock

Bass Cecelia Bruggemeyer Flutes Neil McLaren Guy Williams

Oboes James Eastaway (dbl ob d'am) Leo Duarte (dbl ob d'am)

Bassoons Nathaniel Harrison (dbl 3rd ob)

Rebecca Hammond Horn Anneke Scott

Trumpets Stephen Keavy Robert Vanryne Darren Moore

Timpani

Benedict Hoffnung Organ Alastair Ross Keyboard technician Andrew Wooderson

17

Notes

The first publisher of Bach's B minor Mass in 1818, Hans Nägeli, regarded this work as the 'greatest musical artwork of all times and peoples', an extremely bold judgement but one with which it is hard to disagree. Bach was unusual for his time in that he seemed to intend to compose quite a proportion of his music with an eye to posterity rather than simply for performance on any particular occasion. This is especially true of the B minor Mass as we have no record of a complete performance in his lifetime.

Sections of it, such as the Sanctus and the Kyrie and Gloria, were certainly

performed at various stages in his life but it seems that completion of the entire Mass was something that preoccupied his final years without any specific performance in mind. Its sheer scale precluded it from inclusion in a service and yet concert performances of Mass settings were unheard of. It seems that Bach wanted to produce a work that included as many styles

and forms as possible and to this end he spent time studying the 'stile antico'. It tells us a great deal about Bach's character and enquiring mind that even after establishing himself as a musician of such high stature he

should want to continue to educate himself further. Scholars such as Joshua Rifkin and John Butt have come to the conclusion that almost all of the sections of the Mass are 'parodies', that is, they are adaptations of pre-

existing compositions even though some of these compositions have been lost in their original form. It's likely that the Confiteor movement in the Credo is the only movement freshly composed in the 1740s. The Confiteor is an example of his use of the 'stile antico', in which a plainchant cantus firmus emerges from the surrounding counterpoint. The

number of corrections in Bach's autograph manuscript reveals that he was

composing this movement as he was writing it, rather different from many of the other movements in which he is clearly either copying out or re-arranging a pre-existing version. A more 'modern', galant style can be found in the Domine Deus. The music is light and dancing in character and this is helped by the fact that the bass line is marked pizzicato. This dance element was a fashion that had spread from France and it was a 'modern' conception to include it in a sacred work since dance music had always

been considered inappropriate for use in church. It is interesting to note

that it is usually for the celebratory and joyful texts, such as the opening of the Gloria and the Et resurrexit, that Bach reserves the dance. And yet it is the older, more serious style that he employs for the opening Kyrie (Lord, have mercy) and also for the concluding Dona nobis pacem (Give us peace) which, nevertheless, leaves us feeling wonderfully uplifted.

CAVATINA Trust provides free seats for young people aged 8-25 to attend chamber music concerts, such as ours.

Please consider becoming a Friend of

CAVATINA.

18

JS Bach: Mass in B Minor

Kyrie - Chor

Kyrie eleison.

Christe - Soprano

Christe eleison.

Kyrie - Chor

Kyrie eleison.

Gloria - Chor

Gloria in excelsis Deo,

Et in terra pax hominibus bonae

voluntatis.

Laudamus te - Soprano

Laudamus te, benedicimus te,

Adoramus te, glorificamus te.

Gratias - Chor

Gratias agimus tibi propter

magnam gloriam tuam.

Domine Deus - Soprano, Tenor

Domine Deus, Rex coelestis,

Deus Pater omnipotens.

Domine Fili unigenite, Jesu Christe.

Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius

Patris.

Qui tollis - Chor

Qui tollis peccata mundi,

Miserere nobis.

Qui tollis peccata mundi,

Suscipe deprecationem nostram.

Kyrie - Chorus

Lord, have mercy.

Christe - Soprano

Christ, have mercy.

Kyrie - Chorus

Lord, have mercy.

Gloria - Chorus

Glory to God in the highest,

And peace on earth to men of good

will.

Laudamus te - Soprano

We praise You, we bless You,

We worship You, we glorify You.

Gratias - Chorus

We give You thanks for Your great

glory.

Domine Deus - Soprano, Tenor

Lord God, King of Heaven,

God the Father Almighty.

Lord only-begotten Son, Jesus

Christ. Lord God, Lamb of God, Son

of the Father.

Qui tollis - Chorus

You who take away the sin of the

world, Have mercy on us.

You who take away the sin of the

world, hear our prayer.

19

Qui sedes - Alto

Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris,

miserere nobis.

Quoniam - Bass

Quoniam tu solus sanctus, tu solus

Dominus,

Tu solus altissimus, Jesu Christe.

Cum Sancto - Chor Cum Sancto Spiritu in gloria Dei Patris, Amen.

Qui sedes - Alto

You who sit at the right hand of the

Father,

have mercy on us.

Quoniam - B ass

For You alone are holy, You alone

are Lord,

You alone are the Most High, Jesus

Christ. Cum Sancto - Chorus With the Holy Spirit in the glory of God the Father, Amen.

Credo - Chor

Credo in unum Deum.

Patrem omnipotentem - Chor

Patrem omnipotentem,

factorem coeli et terrae,

visibilium omnium et invisibilium.

Et in unum - Soprano, Alto

Et in unum Dominum Jesum

Christum,

Filium Dei unigenitum, et ex patre

natum ante omnia saecula, Deum de

Deo, lumen de lumine,

Deum verum de Deo vero. Genitum

non factum, consubstantialem Patri;

per quem omnia facta sunt. Qui

propter nos homines et propter

nostram salutem descendit de coelis.

Credo - Chorus

I believe in one God.

Patrem omnipotentem - Chorus

the Father, the Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth,

of all that is, seen and unseen.

Et in unum - Soprano, Alto

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the

only Son of God, eternally begotten

of the Father,

God from God, light from light,

true God from true God, begotten,

not made,

of one being with the Father;

through Him all things were made.

For us and for our salvation He

came down from heaven.

Interval

20

Et incarnatus - Chor

Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto,

ex Maria virgine; et homo factus est.

Et incarnatus - Chorus

By the power of the Holy Spirit He

became incarnate from the Virgin

Mary, and was made man.

Crucifixus - Chor

Crucifixus etiam pro nobis sub Pontio

Pilato,

passus et sepultus est.

Crucifixus - Chorus

For our sake He was crucified under

Pontius Pilate; He suffered death and

was buried.

Et resurrexit - Chor

Et resurrexit tertia die secundum

Scripturas, et ascendit in coelum,

sedet ad dexteram Patris, et iterum

venturus est cum gloria, judicare

vivos et mortuos, cujus regni non erit

finis.

Et resurrexit - Chorus

On the third day He rose again in

accordance with the Scriptures; He

ascended into heaven, and is seated

at the right hand of the Father; He

will come again in glory to judge the

living and the dead, and His kingdom

will have no end.

Et in Spiritum - Bass

Et in Spiritum Sanctum Dominum,

et vivificantem, qui ex Patre Filioque

procedit,

qui cum Patre et Filio simul adoratur,

et conglorificatur, qui locutus est per

Prophetas.

Et unam sanctam catholicam et

apolstolicam Eccelsiam.

Et in spiritum - Bass

And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the

Lord, the giver of Life, who proceeds

from the Father and the Son; with

the Father and the Son He is

worshipped and glorified. He has

spoken through the prophets. I

believe in one holy catholic and

apolstolic Church;

Confiteor - Chor

Confiteor unum baptisma in

remissionem peccatorum, et expecto

resurectionem mortuorum,

et vitam venturi saeculi. Amen.

Confiteor - Chorus

I acknowledge one baptism for the

forgiveness of sins; I look for the

resurrection of the dead, and the life

of the world to come. Amen.

Sanctus - Chor

Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus

Deus Sabaoth.

Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua.

Sanctus - Chorus

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts.

Heaven and earth are full of your

glory.

Osanna - Chor

Osanna in excelsis.

Osanna - Chorus

Hosannah in the highest.

Benedictus - Tenor

Benedictus qui venit in nomine

Domini.

Benedictus - Tenor

Blessed is He who comes in the name

of the Lord.

21

Osanna - Chor

Osanna in excelsis.

Osanna - Chorus

Hosannah in the highest.

Agnus Dei - Alto

Agnus Dei qui tollis peccata mundi,

miserere nobis.


miserere nobis.


Agnus Dei - Alto

Lamb of God, who takes away the sin

of the world, have mercy on us.


of the world, have mercy on us.


of the world.

Dona nobis pacem - Chor

dona nobis pacem.

Copyright Pamela Dellal

Dona nobis pacem - Chorus

grant us peace.

22

Adrian Butterfield director and violin

Born in London but brought up in Farnham, Adrian Butterfield is a

violinist, director and conductor who specialises in performing music

from 1600-1900 on period instruments. A former chorister of St.

Paul’s Cathedral and a graduate of Trinity College Cambridge, he is

Musical Director of the Tilford Bach Society and Associate Director

of the London Handel Festival and regularly directs the London

Handel Orchestra and Players as well as working as a guest soloist

and director in Europe and North America.

He works annually with the Southbank Sinfonia, is Professor of

Baroque Violin at the Royal College of Music in London, gives

masterclasses in Europe and North America and teaches on the

Aestas Musica International Summer School of Baroque Music and

Dance in Croatia.

Adrian leads two chamber ensembles in London. The London Handel

Players perform regularly at the Wigmore Hall and at festivals

throughout Europe and have made several appearances in Canada.

The Revolutionary Drawing Room specializes in classical and

romantic music on period instruments. With Laurence Cummings,

Adrian has recorded the first two books of Leclair sonatas, and with

the RDR, the highly acclaimed new recording of Haydn, Mozart,

Vanhal and Dittersdorf string quartets, as well as Mozart's Clarinet

Quintet with Colin Lawson.

Adrian used to sing in the choir at St. Andrew's Church under

Steven Thomson. His violin teacher, Pamela Spofforth ('Spoff') was

a major influence and Adrian performed in the Farnham area

frequently including at the Maltings and at the Farnham Festival,

where he gave the first performance of Stephen Dodgson's Five

Occasional Pieces which were specially written for him.

The experience of being a chorister and singing so much early

music at that age had a great influence on him. Spoff was also

influential in this respect and a number of her pupils went on to

become period-instrument players. He later studied with Simon

Standage who taught him a great deal about the style and he

learned a lot more at Cambridge about the historical background of

early music.

Adrian loves a wide range of music including folk and jazz and the

classic musicals of Gershwin, Cole Porter and Irving Berlin. He says

that Bach is the composer he always loves coming back to the

most. Handel's music has such enormous emotional power, Haydn's

23

its wit, Mozart's its perfection, Schubert gives us such pain and

beauty, Beethoven possessed such staggering boldness - the list is

almost endless. But Bach seems to be on a different plane, taking

us out of this world and into the next. Bach's faith gave him a

strength and self-confidence, without a hint of arrogance, that he

finds truly inspiring. Adrian finds it a privilege to be able to bring to

Tilford so many great musicians who feel the same way.

Adrian is married to the period-instrument flautist and recorder

player Rachel Brown and they have one daughter.

Adrian Butterfield

24

Pegasus is one of London's most accomplished chamber choirs, critically acclaimed and award-winning for its imaginative programmes of music from the Renaissance to the present day. The choir gives around a dozen

concerts a year in London and further afield with its regular director, Matthew Altham, and occasional guest conductors, and has a strong tradition of presenting concerts in collaboration with charities and music societies. Pegasus has performed at the Tilford Bach Festival, London Handel Festival, the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music and the Proms at St

Jude’s, and at various venues across London and the South East, including the Queen Elizabeth Hall, St Martin in the Fields and St James, Piccadilly.

The choir has worked with the Southbank Sinfonia under the direction of John Rutter, and with the London Handel Players under Laurence Cummings and Adrian Butterfield, and has also been on stage with renowned ballet dancer Carlos Acosta in four productions at the London

Coliseum and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Major sacred works the choir has performed include Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610, Rachmaninov’s All-Night Vigil, J.S. Bach’s Passions and Mass in B Minor, Handel’s Messiah and Israel in Egypt, and settings of the Requiem

mass by Victoria, Mozart, Brahms, Fauré and Duruflé. Pegasus is committed to exploring the rich tradition of choral writing in this country,

particularly by contemporary composers, and has given first performances of works by John Tavener and Thomas Adès; in 2013 Pegasus commissioned and premiered two works by Francis Grier, A Baby Asleep after Pain and Pax. Pegasus has enjoyed success in competitions both in the UK and internationally, most recently winning the Chamber Choir prize at the 2013

Florilège Vocal de Tours International Choral Competition in France, as well

25

as a special award for its performance of the

music of Poulenc. The choir has been seen and heard on BBC TV and radio, Channel 4 and Classic FM.

You can find out more about Pegasus and j o i n o u r m a i l i n g l i s t a t www.pegasuschoir.org.uk; visit us on facebook.com/pegasuschoir or follow us on Twitter @pegasuschoir. Our inaugural CD,

Twelve Days – A Celebration of Christmas is

available on the internet.

Eisenach1685-1695

Birth, lives untilparents die

when JSB age 10

Ohdruf1695-1700

Lives with older brother

Luneburg1700-1702

Choir school

Weimar1702-1703

1708-1717Organist and

court musicianAge 23-32

CPE Bach born 1714

Arnstadt1703-1707

Organist age 18-22Marries Maria Barbara

Műhlhausen1707-1708

Organist age 22-23Leipzig

1723-1750

Age 38-65Music director at St Thomas

Cőthen1717-1723

Court musician age 32-38Maria Barbara dies

Marries Anna Magdalena in 1721

Brandenburg concertos

Berlin

Hamburg

Chronology of Bach's Life

Matthew Altham

26

Charles Daniels tenor

Charles Daniels was born in Salisbury and received his musical

training at King’s College, Cambridge, both as a boy and as a

student, and the Royal College of Music in London where he studied

under Edward Brooks. He is indebted to Edward Brooks for much of

what is good in his singing technique and still find lots of what he

taught very useful. Once he entered the 'historically-informed' bit of

the business he was fortunate to work with people like Andrew

Parrott in the early 80s, and later learned a good deal about French

baroque music from working with Bill Christie and Les Arts

Florissants.

He always loved music, but the decision to make it a career was a

gradual one. When he left King's Choir because he had already

decided to study singing at postgrad level: this was partly because

he needed better technique to make a career out of it, but partly

because another great interest, science, seemed to him not to be a

career path by then - too many people with incredible brains going

into it. As his postgrad studies continued, he was already getting a

good deal of professional work including some tours and occasional

BBC broadcasts, so the career developed from that. He says that

people find out quickly whether you're any good or not.

Most of the time Charles is on the road performing and typically

gives 70 concerts a year. He does not teach much and has no

permanent teaching post. He is away on tour more than half the

time, so he cannot give students the continuity and time they would

need. When he is home he tries to be useful as family member as

well as preparing for the next few projects. He finds some aspects

of travelling rough or tiresome - flying dries out voices, so it's a bit

harder to sing one's best afterwards.

Charles has made over 100 recordings as a soloist and his

repertoire extends some 1150 years form the ninth century to the

present day and he has performed with most of the leading

conductors and orchestras.

Charles enjoys the outdoors and is a keen cyclist, sometimes

cycling long distance to concerts, such as Heathrow to Tilford for

the 2013 Festival! With his family he enjoys hill walking in the Lake

District. He remains interested in science and reads the popular

science press.

27

He enjoys several other sorts of music, jazz for instance, but does

not spend much time listening to recorded music. Marie his wife

became interested in Carnatic Music (Southern Indian) some years

ago, which opened his ears to another musical world, and they went

to some great concerts of Carnatic Music.

Charles Daniels Photo: Hanya Chlala

28

Renata Pokupic, alto / mezzo-soprano Renata is a freelancer opera singer who grew up in a small village 130km east of Zagreb, Croatia. She lived until 15 helping her parents at their farm, where as a six year old she heard opera (La Traviata) on TV for the first time and completely fell in

love with it and decided there and then

that she wanted to be an opera singer. Her first big loves were Puccini and Verdi and their operas and she still loves them - Suor Angelica, Madama Butterfly and Traviata makes her cry every time! Later

she discovered her love for Handel, Bach and Mozart but those first two stayed...

Renata also does some teaching but was terrified at first thinking that she will not know what to tell younger singers but was

surprised to find a teacher hiding inside her and that to work with students is a pure joy! Very challenging but very inspiring. When not working she likes to be as close as possible to nature and loves walking, and especially playing with her dog. Also good food of course!

Favourite piece of music?...very difficult but Matthew Passion and Le Nozze

di Figaro have a special place in her heart.

Julia Doyle soprano Born and educated in Lancaster, Julia read Social and Political Sciences alongside a Cho-ral Scholarship at Gonville and Caius Col-lege, Cambridge. After finishing her degree,

she worked in America as a research con-sultant in infant linguistic and musical devel-opment, and then in Arts Management in

London before pursuing a singing career. She has since performed all over the world with many of Europe’s top ensembles and is

fast establishing a career as a specialist in Baroque repertoire.

29

Stephan Loges bass

Stephan Loges was born in Dresden, Germany, and spent his childhood as a member of the

local boys’ choir (Dresdner Kreuzchor), singing, learning lots of music and playing the piano, travelling and kicking a football around when-ever possible. After wanting to become a surgeon, deep sea

diver or priest (not necessarily in that order!), his love of music and singing finally won and he went on to study singing at the Hochschule der Künste Berlin and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. His time in Berlin fostered a deep and ongoing

love for literature and the theatre, but when it was finally time to do some serious studying,

Stephan was very fortunate in meeting his fu-ture teacher Rudolf Piernay who taught him so much about singing and mu-sic during his time at the GSMD. Moving to and living in London was the fulfilment of a dream, and hearing Alfedo Kraus at 70 in a Gala concert or Jose van Dam as Philip in Luc Bondy’s production of ‘Don Carlos’ at Covent

Garden, Olli Mustonen and Murray Perahia at Wigmore Hall, or seeing Derek Jacobi and Ian McKellen at the National Theatre are just a few early experiences in this city he’ll never forget.

After finishing the opera course at the GSMD, Stephan was lucky enough to be able to start and build his career slowly but steadily with a mixture of

concert, opera and recital work, helped and guided by his agent Maxine Robertson. No major breakthroughs (although winning the 1999 Wigmore Hall Song Competition was certainly helpful), but many wonderful opportu-nities to work with experienced artists such as Graham Johnson, Richard Hickox, Paul McCreesh and John Eliot Gardiner to name but a few. The ora-torios and cantatas of J.S.Bach and the inexhaustible riches of the song repertoire are things he could not live without, both in a spiritual sense and

in as much as they have enabled him to earn a living as a singer. Stephan now divides his time between his singing career (40-60 perform-ances a year), teaching German Lied at the GSMD and spending time with his family. He has always enjoyed travelling, seeing new places and meet-ing new people – all of which comes as part of his job - but he now often misses his wife and two sons and doesn’t like being away from them for too

long. In his free time he loves to be with his family, going to the seaside or on long country walks, playing tennis and football, reading and listening to

what his wife lovingly calls his ‘collection of dead singers’.

30

Rowan Pierce soprano

North Yorkshire born soprano Rowan Pierce is a Midori Nishiura Scholar supported by a Douglas and Hilda Simmonds Award at the Royal College of Music. She studies with Russell Smythe and Gary Matthewman. Rowan is a Samling Artist and a

Britten Pears Young Artist. She has performed in masterclasses with artists including Olaf Bär,

Caroline Dowdle, Simon Keenlyside, Roderick Williams, Elly Ameling, Sir Thomas Allen, Sir John Tomlinson and Dame Emma Kirkby. Among others, Rowan has been influenced by artists such as Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Dame Ann Murray,

Christopher Glynn, Ashley Solomon, Sir Thomas Allen, James Gilchrist, Felicity Palmer and Richard Egarr. She particularly enjoys exploring the work of Henry Purcell and Claudio Monteverdi for their use of word painting and a notable

performance for her career so far was singing a new English translation of JS Bach’s Coffee Cantata with Sir Thomas Allen, sponsored by Costa

Coffee!

Amy Lyddon alto A 'warmly expressive' (The Guardian) and 'exquisite' singer (BBC Radio 3), Amy Lyddon studies at the Royal College of Music with Rosa Mannion. She is an RCM

Award Holder supported by an H R Taylor Trust Award, The Kathleen Trust and The Josephine Baker Trust. A former chorister at Bath Abbey, Amy was a Choral Scholar at Trinity College, Cambridge and graduated with first-class honours in Linguistics with French and Spanish. Recent performance

highlights include Bach’s St Matthew Passion for the Academy of Ancient Music

and Handel’s Messiah for the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra. When Amy was 11, she met and sang with The Three Tenors and this inspired her to become a singer. Her favourite piece of music to listen to is

the second movement of Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major. The performers she most admires are Jonas Kauffmann, Sarah Connolly and Beyoncé! When not singing, Amy enjoys going on long country walks

followed by a pint of lager and a hearty roast lunch.

31

Joel Williams tenor Joel Williams is a tenor on the Masters course at the Royal College of Music where he studies with Justin Lavender, and is a Soirée d'Or Scholar.

Joel made his operatic debuts at ROH, ENO, and Glyndebourne as a boy treble playing Cobweb in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, one of Die Zauberflöte’s Drei Knaben, and general peasant-

child in Puccini's Turandot. He went on to study History at King’s College, Cambridge, where he was a Choral Scholar. He was a soloist in

venues including the Royal Albert Hall, the Concertgebouw, the Sydney Opera House, and the Great Wall of China. Joel loves being on stage. As an admirer of Benjamin Britten, Joel was thrilled to make his

RCM International Opera School debut as the bluster-full Mayor in Albert

Herring. His favourite oratorio, currently, is Britten's St Nicolas. In his spare time, of which there seems to be increasingly little, Joel enjoys swimming and baking, though not at the same time.

Flavia Hirte flute Flavia Hirte is a freelance flautist and teacher based in London. She completed her Master's in historical performance at

the Royal College of Music with

distinction in 2015 and was generously supported by an Ian Evans Lombe Award. Ever since she found out about the work of Rachel Brown and Lisa Beznosiuk, she was determined to learn with both of these leading figures in the world of historical flute playing. At the

age of 15 Flavia first came across the

baroque flute at a workshop in Potsdam near Berlin. From then on she integrated it into her flute studies, first in Berlin and then in the UK. The sound and the new perspective on vibrato were particularly appealing to Flavia, as well as the idea of playing baroque repertoire on the most appropriate instrument available. This is still her main aim and motivation, to discover

the huge variety of different flutes of the past 400 years and how playing them enhances the music written for them. Next to her private teaching and performing, Flavia also loves going to concerts, travelling and meeting

new people. Recent other interests are learning Swedish and rollerblading!

32

Carina Drury cello Cellist Carina Drury grew up in Dublin and moved to London in 2003 to study at the Royal Academy of Music with Philip Sheppard and Jonathan Manson, and

later at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Richard Lester. Carina particularly enjoys the atmosphere of the theatre and has performed in many operas, puppet shows and musicals. She loves

to listen to and play all kinds of music and she always has the radio on when she is not practising or performing!

Her greatest musical inspirations have been her teachers (including her first cello teacher in Dublin, the late Nora Gilleece), and she also greatly admires the performers Steven Isserlis, Nicola Benedetti, Igudesman&Joo, Gregory Porter and the bands

Radiohead and London Grammar. When she’s not playing the cello, Carina

loves to bake homemade cakes which she brings to rehearsals, making her a popular chamber music partner with her colleagues!

Future TBS Concerts



Goldberg Ensemble


(Fund raising concert for St Peter's Church)

------------------------------------



Dante String Quartet

Programme to include Beethoven String Quartet 132

-------------------------------------------------------------



Emma Abbate (piano) & Tippett String Quartet

Dvorak Piano Quintet Op81, Schumann Piano Quintet Op44 -------------------------------------------------------------

Saturday 26 November 2016: 7-30pm

Farnham United Reformed Church

Eisenach Ensemble

Baroque evening

33

Jan Hutek oboe Jan Hutek is Polish and grew up in an artistic family (his mother is a well known actress, father, a theatre director and sister, a

diverse and talented jazz singer). During the early years of Jan's musical education, the professional performance of music on historical

instruments was just starting to gain popularity in Poland. His inclination towards Early Music was

greatly inspired by the Polish Radio 2 channel, broadcasting many of the best "historically informed" pe r fo rmances o f the top ensembles. Jan achieved a BA diploma on modern oboe at the

Grazyna i Kiejstut Bacewicz

Academy of Music in his home town of Lódz (Lodz). It was at the Academy, he started to play and study historical oboes with Rafael Gabriel Przybyla. Jan then went on to study with Katharina Spreckelsen at the Royal Academy of Music in

London, where in 2014 he gained an MA with Distinction and a DipRAM award.

Jan has performed with many Early Music ensembles in the UK, Poland, Czech Republic and Germany. In December 2014, he toured Europe with EUBO, directed by Lars Ulrik Mortensen.

In 2016, Jan was awarded a place on The Ann and Peter Law Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Experience scheme. His favourite baroque composer is Johann Sebastian Bach. Jan enjoys

vocal music, especially for vocal ensembles, and he also gained a BA degree in singing. Currently he is living in London.

Daniel D’Souza

34

Performance of the St Matthew Passion A view from the Director’s Chair

A number of TBS members have been curious to know something about the process of preparing, rehearsing and performing the St Matthew Passion last year so here are some thoughts on how I went about it.

The first decision I had to make was what forces to use. Research in recent decades by Joshua Rifkin and Andrew Parrott has strongly suggested that

Bach used just four singers for most of his cantatas and eight for special occasions such as the Passion performances. I re-read articles and books by these musicians and others and even called Andrew Parrott personally - he was very generous with his time. I decided, therefore, to have 8 main singers, 4 for each ‘choir’, and secured Charles Daniels, one of the best

Evangelists in the world, as early as I could. There is an extra soprano line in two of the main choruses and I was keen to follow Denys Darlow’s example of giving local young children the opportunity to be involved so I spoke to Kate Davies at Edgeborough School who kindly made all the

arrangements. I then had to decide how to direct it - conduct or direct from the violin? In

the baroque era it was more usual for someone to direct from the violin or keyboard than conduct. Directing from an instrument gives the individual performers more responsibility and encourages a more chamber-music style of performance which I particularly enjoy. Having decided to direct from the violin I had to plan when I would play and when I would conduct. I needed to sit on a stool in order to be more visible to the singers and

players and to have two music stands in order to have both a violin part and the full score in front of me for reference. As a Lutheran, Bach set the Passions in German rather than Latin so that the congregation would be able to understand the text easily. Denys Darlow used to perform these works in English to reflect this tradition of having the text in the vernacular. The downside of this, however, is that Bach’s music

matches the German text so well and it is so difficult to make an English translation sound natural so I opted for German.

The next step was to decide which singers to book and then to find out whether they were free for the two dates we had fixed. The best singers are engaged two or three years in advance for some of their work and I had confirmation that we had the finances in place less than a year before

our concerts so I had to get on with that urgently! Normally, one would have several days of rehearsal for a long and complex work like this but I knew that TBS didn’t have the budget for that so I had to choose performers who knew the piece inside out, both singers and orchestra, and

who would be easy to work with. I also bought my own set of orchestral parts so that I could mark everything up with bowings and other indications

35

appropriate for these performances. When you have three hours on the

performance day to rehearse a work that is actually longer than your rehearsal time you know there will be little time to discuss bowings!

Another consideration I had to bear in mind was that the St. Matthew can place a big strain on the singers’ voices so it was important to ensure they paced themselves during the rehearsal. I had arranged a rehearsal 10 days earlier for Charles Daniels (Evangelist), Benjamin Appl (Jesus) and the continuo team of Kath Sharman and Al Ross so that we could rehearse the recitatives and take a little of the strain off the rehearsal on the day.

The placing of the performers was an important question in both venues. Andrew Parrott told me that Bach had his singers in front of the orchestra. This wasn’t really practical at Tilford but I attempted to have them raised in front of the chancel step on platforms, kindly assisted by John Horrocks and Richard Punshon. In the end, this didn’t work either so they had to squash themselves either side of the organ on the step. At St. John’s we spent

nearly half of the rehearsal getting the set-up correct!

Directing from an instrument is a complex process, especially for a piece that involves so many instruments and voices and which is so long. One needs to know the score virtually from memory including the text. Starting and finishing each movement or section is clearly vital, communicating the tempo and mood as clearly as possible with my body language and looking

at relevant performers at specific moments. So many of the movements are for a solo singer and a small number of instrumentalists and I often let them work together without my interference since I knew I could trust them to do a beautiful job. For the alto aria Erbarme dich with violin solo,

Daniel Taylor was standing behind me at St. John’s so I couldn’t even see him but we have worked together so many times over the years that this wasn’t a problem. A lot of baroque music has one main basic tempo per

movement or section so it is not necessary to indicate the tempo throughout. When the Edgeborough pupils were involved I focussed my attention on them as I knew they would need me to help and encourage them. In the London concert I forgot to sit them down at one point and they remained standing rather longer than necessary!

Those two concerts were an absolute musical highlight of my life. I had managed to bring together an amazing team of singers and instrumentalists whose expertise and experience made the project possible and who produced two incredibly moving performances of one of the greatest works ever to have been written. I am especially grateful to the Tilford members who sponsored the Tilford performance and James Penney and his company, Darwin Escapes, which sponsored the London concert

and John Horrocks and the Committee for they incredible support. Thank you and I look forward to the B minor Mass this year!

36

Farnham Competitive Music Festival Farnham Competitive Music Festival is a competitive but friendly

music competition for young players between the ages of around 10

–25. It is held each November and ends with a free concert. There

are various different prizes for different instruments and levels.

Members of the Tilford Bach Society will be sponsoring prizes for

baroque music at the next competition.

www.farnhammusicfestival.org.uk ——————————————-

Why not become a sponsor? Our aim is to grow our Festival and restore the tradition of holding

full performances of Bach’s major works. We cannot do this with

ticket sales alone and so we need sponsors. We have created a new

category of Sponsor Member costing £200pa per individual or

£300pa per couple offering priority seat reservation at all concerts,

invitations to social events with the Music Director and performers,

and possibilities to attend some rehearsals.

Please consider becoming a sponsor member.

Please contact Chairman or Secretary for more details.

2017 Tilford Bach Festival Please check website in case anything is changed

Friday - Sunday, 16-18 June

ending with

JS Bach: St John Passion

Free concerts for children and parents

For all our Farnham Concerts (not all Festival ones) we offer free

access for 8-25 year olds, and children who need accompanying

can bring a parent or teacher free of charge.

So young families can come free of charge!

37

St Thomas Church Leipzig today

St Thomas Church Leipzig in Bach's time

38

Strutt & Parker have made an arrangement with the Tilford Bach

Society that we believe will help to fund future events!

10% of any fee will be paid to the Tilford Bach Society if you

sell your property through Strutt & Parker.

With regional offices in Farnham, Guildford, Haslemere, Winchester,

Odiham and Chichester, plus an exceptional presence in Central

London, we would be delighted to meet you and help plan your

move.

Our contact, Partner at Strutt & Parker Farnham, is Richard

Banes-Walker. Richard lives in Rowledge, near Farnham with his

wife and three children and is very keen to point you in the right

direction.

Please contact Richard in the first instance on 01252 821102.

We want to help you hit all the right notes and in the right order.

10-12 june 2016 - tilford bach society · alessandro marcello: oboe concerto in d minor op.1...

Documents